Site Mobile Navigation

Rich Memories in the Last Days at Dodgertown

Tommy Lasorda got the royal treatment after possibly the last game at Dodgertown, the Dodgers spring training site since 1948.Credit
Hans Deryk/Reuters

VERO BEACH, Fla. — On a side field, far from the Holman Stadium set being primped for perhaps its curtain-closing act, two groundskeepers were working and worrying.

Earlier in the morning, a Dodgers fan had approached them, Angelo De Santo and Dave Heath, and asked if they could spare a wrench. The Dodgers were about to play possibly their last game at Dodgertown, their home since 1948, and the fan was thinking about taking home a seat as a souvenir.

It did not matter that there is a minuscule chance that the Dodgers will be back here next year if their new spring training complex in Glendale, Ariz., closer to their transplanted roots, is not finished. Or that another team, like the Baltimore Orioles, may become new tenants.

The last thread of Brooklyn running through the Dodgers, the one connecting everyone from Jackie Robinson to Juan Pierre, was most likely clipped Monday in a 12-10 defeat to the Houston Astros witnessed by 7,327.

That was more than the crowd that saw the Brooklyn Dodgers play their last game at Ebbets Field in 1957, before Walter O’Malley moved the team to Los Angeles. But it was hundreds less than could have been accommodated at this farewell party.

Photo

The Astros Nick Gorneault homered over Nook Logan to give one Dodgers fan a souvenir. The game drew more than 7,000.Credit
Hans Deryk/Reuters

The Dodgers wore green caps, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day — a holiday almost as dear to O’Malley’s heart as his ball club — but black caps would have been more appropriate. The dismantling of Dodgertown represents another wrecking-ball blow to baseball’s tradition.

Perhaps nobody understood that better than Tommy Lasorda, a baseball lifer who managed the Dodgers to four World Series appearances and two titles. He was up early Monday, and by 7:30 he was on his way to the cafeteria for breakfast when he was stopped by a couple reveling in Dodgertown’s relaxed access.

They asked if he would pose for a photograph with their dog, Blue, and Lasorda obliged. He smiled for the camera but in truth, putting on a happy face on this day was another perfunctory act, like putting on sunblock.

Lasorda’s day began at 4 a.m. in Apartment 112, the one-bedroom unit at Dodgertown that he has inhabited every spring training since 1976. After putting on his uniform, he started packing for the trip west, his mind cluttered by images of everything he was leaving behind for good.

“It was kind of a blue feeling,” Lasorda said, “to know I’m going to leave this place behind, leave the people here, leave the church I went to.” He added: “It’s sad. I may never come back here again. I’m thinking about that.”

Lasorda alighted here for the first time as a scared 19-year-old pitching prospect. He leaves as a blue 80-year-old baseball pitchman. “It’s sad,” he said. “But you know, times change.”

Three hours before the first pitch, Lasorda addressed his players behind closed doors. He was substituting for Manager Joe Torre, who just returned with a squad from China. When Lasorda was done, applause penetrated the walls of the clubhouse. James Loney, a 23-year-old first baseman, said Lasorda reminisced about the springs he spent here and thanked the players for giving him a few more precious memories.

Photo

Carl Erskine played the national anthem on his harmonica before the Dodgers final game at their spring training home, Holman Stadium. Erskine, 81, pitched in the teams first game there in 1953.Credit
Hans Deryk/Reuters

Outside the clubhouse doors, Lasorda stopped to speak with reporters. He reflected on how, as the manager in Los Angeles from 1976 to 1996, he encouraged his players to applaud the fans at Dodgertown because they are baseball’s human core. Somebody asked him if he planned to orchestrate a standing ovation for fans Monday.

Lasorda’s eyebrows arched. Inspiration moved like the sun across his face. “Hey, that’s a pretty good idea,” he said.

Speaking over his right shoulder, in the direction of Colin Gunderson, the Dodgers public relations official who serves as his chaperone, Lasorda said, “Make a note of that.” Chuckling, he added: “I’m glad I thought of that.”

An error has occurred. Please try again later.

You are already subscribed to this email.

This was another good idea: Carl Erskine, one of Lasorda’s contemporaries, played the national anthem on his harmonica. Erskine, 81, pitched the first game for the Dodgers at Holman Stadium when it opened March 11, 1953. As was the case that day, when he picked up the victory, Erskine delivered a pitch-perfect performance.

Admitting afterward that he was a little nervous, Erskine explained, “You hope you do it right.” He expressed amazement that he was back in a Dodgers uniform, at the same stadium he had christened 55 years earlier. “I can remember so vividly that game,” Erskine said, adding, “I have a lot of sweet memories from here.”

Erskine watched the game in the home dugout, seated next to Lasorda, who was trying to chase down a memory for someone else. He told everyone that the ball used to record the game’s final out was to be surrendered to him. Frank McCourt, the Dodgers’ owner, wanted it.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Rafael Furcal grounded out. After securing the ball, Lasorda slowly walked toward right field and the final curtain. Instead of being lowered, it was metaphorically raised, with the Dodgers forming two lines and lifting their bats to make an arch for Lasorda to walk through.

The fear of seats being uprooted afterward proved unfounded. By the ninth inning, the stadium was less than two-thirds full. Many of those who stayed hugged the rail in right field and beseeched the players for autographs. When only Loney answered their call, they amended their chant. Maybe the last cheer heard in Dodgertown was: “Tom-my! Tom-my!”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D5 of the New York edition with the headline: Rich Memories in the Last Days at Dodgertown. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe